Our reports on the oral arguments of the Illinois Supreme Court’s September term conclude with Hope Clinic for Women v. Adams. In Hope Clinic, the Court confronts the question of whether the Illinois constitution offers greater protection to privacy and gender equality interests than the Federal constitution. To watch the video of the argument, click here.

Our in-depth summary of the facts and lower court rulings appears here. According to the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act, a physician must disclose to a parent, grandparent, step-parent living in the household or legal guardian that his or her minor or incompetent child is seeking an abortion. Plaintiffs brought a litany of challenges under the state Constitution, including due process, equal protection, privacy and gender equality. The Circuit Court dismissed on the grounds that all four of these state guarantees are interpreted in lockstep with Federal constitutional law, and because the plaintiffs’ claim would fail under Federal law, it must necessarily fail under state law. The Appellate Court reversed, finding that Illinois’ privacy and gender equality rights were not interpreted identically to Federal constitutional law.

The Court was surprisingly quiet during the Hope Clinic argument, giving few clues as to what it might decide. The argument began with the cross-appeal relating to whether the State’s Attorneys of Tazewell and Effingham County should have been allowed to intervene. Neither counsel for the State’s Attorneys nor the State’s counsel received any questions. Chief Justice Kilbride asked counsel for Hope Clinic what came next if the intervenors prevailed — would the case return to the trial court for further hearings? Counsel responded that the case would return for the development of an additional factual record.

Even in the principal appeal, counsel for the state received no questions. Counsel argued that the essential first step of the plaintiff’s action was that the state Constitution granted rights more broad than those included in the Federal constitution. However, nothing in state law supported such a conclusion, according to counsel. Counsel argued that the statute easily satisfied rational basis review for equal protection purposes. The state gender equality provision was limited to discrimination between genders, counsel claimed, which would not apply in the case at bar.

The plaintiff responded that the Supreme Court had never evaluated a parental notification statute pursuant to the Equal Protection Clause, so the issue of whether the state constitution was construed in lockstep with Federal law was not determinative. Justice Thomas asked whether the plaintiff was asking the Court to sit as a super legislature and assess the new studies released since the most recent relevant cases. Counsel responded that the Court should remand the matter in order to give the plaintiff an opportunity to put on its evidence, permitting the Circuit Court to determine whether the burden imposed by the statute was justified. Justice Garman asked whether plaintiff’s evidence had been presented to the legislature. Counsel responded that it had not. Justice Thomas questioned counsel’s challenge to Family Life League v. Department of Public Aid, 112 Ill.2d 449, asking whether plaintiff’s position was that the case had been decided without any consideration of the purpose and legislative history of the privacy clause of the state constitution. Counsel responded that at the time the privacy clause was enacted, the drafters made it clear that their intent was to provide greater protection than the Federal constitution. Justice Thomas noted that at the time the Illinois Constitution was approved, abortion was illegal, and pointed out that Elmer Gertz, the chair of the Convention’s committee on the Bill of Rights, had publicly stated that the privacy clause had nothing to do with abortion. Counsel responded that in fact, the legality of abortion had been unclear at the time, and it was clear that the delegates wanted a constitution which evolved over time. Justice Thomas pressed further, repeating his question about Delegate Gertz’ views; counsel once again responded that the Convention had intended to allow for further development of their constitution. Justice Thomas asked whether, assuming arguendo that the Supreme Court had recognized a state right to abortion, that right was coextensive with the Federal right. Counsel responded that the state constitutional right to privacy was not interpreted in lockstep with the Federal right. In his rebuttal argument, counsel for the state insisted that the state Supreme Court had made it clear in its earlier cases that any protected right involved was no greater in scope than the Federal right. Counsel concluded by arguing that any remand to the Circuit Court for fact finding was incompatible with rational basis review.

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Sedgwick LLP's appellate lawyers represent clients in thousands of appeals at every level of the federal and state appellate court systems, including those of California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Illinois and the corresponding federal circuit courts of appeals. Our seasoned appellate team includes members of the select California Academy of Appellate Lawyers and state-certified appellate specialists. We represent new clients who turn to Sedgwick after suffering adverse outcomes and defend trial court victories secured by the firm’s outstanding litigators.